Order and accounting method and system for services provided via an interactive communication network

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method and system for providing e-commerce and accounting services to organizations and service providers for offerings ordered by the organization via an on-line interactive communication network. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and system whereby a third party intermediary can absorb certain payment, collection and billing functions on behalf of an organization and service providers which provide services to the organization. The term service provider as used herein refers to any entity or individual that provides a service, including the service of providing goods.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and system for providinge-commerce and accounting services to organizations and serviceproviders for offerings ordered by the organization via an on-lineinteractive communication network. In particular, the present inventionrelates to a method and system whereby a third party intermediary canabsorb certain payment, collection and billing functions on behalf of anorganization and service providers which provide services to theorganization. The term service provider as used herein refers to anyentity or individual that provides a service, including the service ofproviding goods.

Although the invention is described in connection with an embodiment forproviding payment, collection and billing functions on behalf ofprofessional service firms (the organization), their employees andrestaurants (the service provider), it will be apparent to those skilledin the art that this invention may be applied to a variety oforganizations other than professional service firms, including anassociation of individuals, non-profit groups, clubs, schools,committees, government agencies, other business entities, and the like.Similarly, the present invention can be applied to service providersother than restaurants, including florists, gift shops, travel agents,transportation providers, hotels, entertainment providers, office supplyproviders, document services, grocery providers, beverage services, andthe like.

Many employers pass through the cost of meals ordered by employees tothe clients for whom those employees perform services. The processbegins with the employee ordering the meal and ends with the employerbilling the client, and is filled with time-consuming, costly and laborintensive administrative functions on the part of the employer, theemployee and the restaurant.

For example, many companies that service clients (such as law firms,advertising agencies, accounting firms, investment banks, and the like)bill clients for meals ordered by employees. This process typicallyrequires an employee to order food, either paying for it in cash or bycredit card or charging it to a “house account.” A house account allowsemployees to order food and the restaurant sends the employer a bill forall such food orders. The employee then provides documentation of themeals ordered to the employer. The employer, in turn, collects andorganizes the relevant records and bills each client for the foodordered by its employees. Further, the employer must reimburse theemployee (if the employee paid for the meal) or pay the restaurant (ifthe employer has a house account).

The infrastructure involved in the accounting and payment process ispaper intensive and administratively burdensome for both the employerand employee, and typically includes steps such as:

-   -   The employer must review all of the employees' reports, verify        and store documentation, and ensure that each client is properly        and timely billed;    -   The employer must either reimburse the employees or pay the        restaurants (depending on whether the employer has house        accounts with restaurants), often making these payments several        months before receiving payment from the clients;    -   The employees must save receipts and prepare detailed reports of        meals ordered.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart which details an example of how food orders arecurrently processed and billed. An employee working through lunch ordinner will typically order in food for delivery from a restaurant. Asshown in step 1 of FIG. 1, such an employee will physically searcharound the office for a menu. The employee will then typically contactthe restaurant by telephone or facsimile and order a meal (step 2). Therestaurant takes the order from the employee (step 3) and delivers themeal to the employee (step 4).

If the employer has a house account with the restaurant, the employeesigns the bill and provides client information to the restaurantdelivery person (step 5). The restaurant will then send the employer abill for the meals ordered by its employees (step 6). If the employerdoes not have a house account, the employee will pay the restaurantdirectly for the food, whether by cash or by credit card (step 7). Inthis case, the employee will complete a reimbursement report with clientaccount information and submit the report to the employer's accountingdepartment (step 8).

In either case (whether house account or not) the employer's accountingdepartment verifies the bill from the restaurant or the report from theemployee (step 9). If the bill is verified, the employer pays therestaurant (step 10) and if the report is verified the employerreimburses the employee (step 11). The employer's accounting departmentwill then enter the meal expense information onto the client's bill(step 12) and send the bill to the client (step 13).

Additionally, at many businesses, employees will be required to maintaina record of all meals ordered to enable the accounting department toverify the house account billing statements received from therestaurants.

The invention provides numerous improvements over the prior art andcorresponding benefits for the organization member/employee. Forexample, many business professionals and other employees working inclient service industries frequently work through lunch or late into theevening. Consequently, these employees order meals from a few menusstashed in their desk drawers or from a few restaurants with whom theiremployer has house accounts. Many employers also rely on outside vendorsto provide food for business meetings and conferences. The process ofordering can be a time-consuming, error-laden and stressful experience.In contrast, the invention can provide the employees with the followingbenefits:

-   -   1. Eliminate the need for the employee to submit reimbursement        reports.    -   2. Easy access to a comprehensive, up-to-date list of menus,        organized by food type or special preferences (e.g., kosher,        vegetarian, etc.) through a user friendly and state of the art        web site;    -   3. Memory of previous restaurant and order selections for each        employee;    -   4. Records of client information, persons eating the meal and        other information necessary for proper billing of that meal;    -   5. Servicing of orders for individuals and groups;    -   6. Providing an estimated time of arrival of the food order to        the employee; and    -   7. Real-time assistance from a Help Desk to resolve any problems        related to an order.

The invention also provides numerous benefits for theorganization/employer. For example, the intermediary acts as a centralrepository for all of the information an employer needs in order to billclients for meals ordered by its employees. When an employee ordersusing the invention, he or she will enter all of the information neededfor the employer to bill that meal to a client properly. Theintermediary will compile this information and send it to the employerelectronically as often as the employer desires. This is preferable tothe employer being dependent on employees to submit reimbursementreports because employees often fail to submit these reports in a timelyfashion. This makes the workflow unpredictable for the employer'saccounting staff and results in untimely bills to employer's clients.

The invention provides a single convenient report which eliminates theneed to enter hundreds of reimbursement forms into the employer'saccounting system and to store the supporting documentation. The reportwill be collated in the manner most convenient to the particularemployer, whether by client, by date, or by employee. As a furtherconvenience, an employer can have the intermediary generate a singlebill for all of its restaurant ordering activity, rather than have eachemployee pay the restaurant for each meal and then seek reimbursementfrom his or her employer.

-   -   This system will have many advantages for employers, including:    -   1. simplicity of paying only one bill for nearly all of the        restaurant orders of its employees;    -   2. convenience of receiving a single electronically generated        reliable and verifiable report with all of the information the        employer needs to bill its clients for the meals ordered by its        employees;    -   3. Ease the administrative burdens on an employer's employees        and accounting department associated with preparing and        processing reimbursement reports, and billing of clients for        meals;    -   4. Achieve cost savings as fewer employees need to attend to the        process of reimbursement for, and client billing of, meals;    -   5. Achieve time savings because employees no longer need to keep        receipts or fill out forms for reimbursement, nor do accounting        personnel have to spend time sorting through this information;    -   6. Improve accuracy in billing because there are fewer        opportunities for human error;    -   7. Improve cash flow because employers will, electronically,        receive client billing information frequently and regularly.        This enables the employer to bill its clients more quickly and,        therefore, receive payment more quickly for the money it has        paid out for these meals on the client's behalf;    -   8. Monitoring Employee Satisfaction of the restaurants the        employee is ordering from and removing restaurants from the web        site that do not deliver in a timely fashion or otherwise do not        meet predefined standards.

The invention provides numerous benefits for the restaurant as well.Because the intermediary maintains records of all transactions betweenthe restaurant and the employees of a particular employer, the inventionwill streamline a restaurant's payment and collection efforts byenabling the restaurant to dispense with taking credit card orders fromthat employer's employees and, instead, allow the intermediary toprovide a single bill to the employer on that restaurant's behalf. Arestaurant listed on the database will have its full menu displayed topotential customers on the web site, and the menu can be updatedelectronically. Also, the intermediary can allow the restaurant to listdaily specials with the service, as well as discount offerings. Amongthe benefits a restaurant can recognize by being listed in the databaseare:

-   -   Increased revenue and improved marketing generated by its menu        being accessible to a larger number of potential customers;    -   Lower costs because, by letting the intermediary bill an        employer on its behalf, this will lower the restaurant's        operating overhead related to billing, collections and        marketing;    -   Elimination of credit card fees that a restaurant pays        (typically, between 2% and 3%, plus a processing fee), because        the intermediary is sending the restaurants' bills to the        employers, the employers are reimbursing the intermediary and        the intermediary is wiring the monies or sending a check to the        restaurants.

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, the service will beappealing because it can (but does not have to) be implemented as a freeservice to the employer and employee, with a set percentage (e.g., 6%)of the dollar total of each order being billed to the restaurant. Thecost to the restaurant is at least partially offset by the fact that therestaurant will not pay a credit card transaction fee for the vastmajority of orders placed using the invention. Also, there is no cost tothe restaurant to participate in the service as the restaurant only paysif it is actually making money through the service.

The present invention provides these and other advantages over thecurrent methods of ordering, billing, and paying for meals delivered toemployees, as well as convenience, time savings, and cost savings toemployers, employees, and restaurants.

Methods and systems providing the above and other advantages areprovided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and system for providinge-commerce and accounting services to organizations and serviceproviders for offerings ordered by the organization via an on-lineinteractive communication network. In particular, the present inventionrelates to a method and system whereby a third party intermediary canabsorb certain payment, collection and billing functions on behalf of anorganization and service providers which provide services to theorganization. The term service provider as used herein refers to anyentity or individual that provides a service, including the service ofproviding goods.

In an illustrated embodiment, the present invention provides a methodand system for providing payment, collection and billing functions onbehalf of professional service firms (the organization), their employeesand restaurants (the service provider) used by their employees throughthe use of a searchable database accessible via an on-line interactivecommunication network. The term restaurant is used in a generic senseand includes any food or beverage provider.

As will be evident from the following description, the present inventionis applicable in any situation where an organization purchases a service(which can be the provision of goods) from a service provider and theorganization then passes the cost of the service on to another party,such as a client.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, an intermediary providese-commerce and accounting services to organizations and serviceproviders for offerings ordered by members of the organization anddelivered by the service provider. The intermediary provides, maintains,and monitors a computerized searchable database of service providerswith associated offerings. Members of an organization are allowed toindividually access the database via an interactive communicationnetwork (e.g., a global communication network such as the Internet andthe like). The members are able to select a service provider from thedatabase and to select offerings from the selected service provider. Themembers communicate billing information to the intermediary whichbilling information is stored at the intermediary. The offeringsselected by the members are communicated from the intermediary to theselected service provider. The intermediary then provides a consolidatedinvoice to the organization for all offerings ordered by the membersduring a predetermined time period.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the intermediary collectspayment from the organization on the consolidated invoice. Theintermediary then pays the service provider for all offerings ordered bythe members during the predetermined time period.

The members may be provided with an additional option of paying for theoffering via one of a credit card or cash, in which instance theoffering is not billed to the organization on the consolidated invoice.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the organization is a businessand the members are employees of the business. The billing informationin this embodiment may include at least one of the employees' personalidentification numbers, a specific identification number for saidbusiness, the business' address, the business' telephone number, andclient billing codes.

In another embodiment of the invention, the searchable database isprovided in the form of a searchable web site.

The web site may include at least one web page associated with eachrestaurant in the database, which web page displays at least one of therestaurant menu, the restaurant food type, and the restaurantspecialties of the day.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the intermediary is capable ofgenerating a report of all meals ordered by the employees during aspecified time period containing at least one of order date, order time,employee name, employee's personal identification number, meal ordered,meal cost, client name, client code, and restaurant name. The report isforwarded from the intermediary to the business.

The report can be sorted by at least one of order date, order time,employee name, employee's personal identification number, meal ordered,meal cost, client name, client code, and restaurant name. In addition,the report can be generated upon demand by the organization.

In another embodiment of the invention, the report is forwarded from theintermediary to the organization via one of facsimile, email, a globalcommunication network, or said interactive communication network.

In another embodiment of the invention, the intermediary is capable ofgenerating a receipt containing at least one of an order confirmationnumber, employee name, the employee's personal identification number,meal ordered, order date, order time, meal cost, client name, clientcode, restaurant name.

The receipt can be forwarded from the intermediary to at least one ofthe employee, the restaurant, and the organization. The receipt may beforwarded from the intermediary via one of facsimile, email, a globalcommunication network, or said interactive communication network.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the intermediary can forwardto the employee an estimated time of meal delivery from the restaurantto the organization.

The database is searchable by at least one of restaurant name, foodtype, food preference, and restaurant location.

In another embodiment of the invention, the business maintains houseaccounts with the restaurants and the consolidated invoice providesconsolidation of amounts due on the house accounts.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the intermediary retains acommission from the payment received from the organization, wherein onlythe balance of the payment from the organization minus the commission isforwarded by the intermediary to the service provider.

In another embodiment of the invention, the intermediary is capable ofproviding a history of previous orders for each member. The intermediarycan also provide real-time assistance to the organization, the employeeor the service provider to resolve problems associated with an order.

In a further embodiment of the invention the intermediary can provide aconsolidated invoice to the organization via one of facsimile, email, aglobal communication network, or said interactive communication network.The consolidated invoice may contain only amounts due for offeringsordered from a particular service provider, such that multipleconsolidated reports may be provided, each relating to a separateservice provider. In the alternative, the consolidated invoice maycontain amounts due to each service provider which has been ordered fromduring the predetermined time period.

In an alternate embodiment, the service providers may be providers offlowers, gifts, transportation, accommodations, travel arrangement,entertainment, office supplies, office copies, documents, food, orbeverages.

In a further embodiment, the members are only allowed access to thesearchable database for a pre-selected group of service providers. Thepre-selected group of service providers may be determined based ongeographic location of the organization. The geographic location can bedetermined by proximity to the organization.

In another embodiment of the invention, delivery of the offerings fromthe service provider to the members is provided for.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the prior art method of processingand billing food orders;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the process of ordering andaccounting for food orders in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a process diagram illustrating the interaction between andfunctions of each of the customer, system of the invention, and serviceprovider.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the provision of e-commerce andaccounting services to organizations and service providers, forofferings ordered by the organization via an on-line interactivecommunication network. In particular, the present invention relates to amethod and system whereby a third party intermediary can absorb certainpayment, collection and billing functions on behalf of an organizationand service providers used by the organization. The term “serviceprovider” as used herein refers to any entity or individual thatprovides a service, including the service of providing goods.

In an illustrated embodiment provided for purposes of example, payment,collection and billing functions are provided on behalf of professionalservice firms (the organization) and their employees, and restaurants(the service provider). A searchable database accessible via an on-lineinteractive communication network is provided to enable employees toorder meals that are subsequently billed to the employer. The termrestaurant is used in a generic sense and includes any food or beverageprovider.

Although the invention is tailored to the situation where an employee ofa professional service firm (e.g., legal, advertising, accounting,consulting, investment banking, recruiting, public relations, and thelike) orders meals from a restaurant, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that this invention may be applied to a variety oforganizations other than professional service firms, including anassociation of individuals, non-profit groups, clubs, schools,committees, government agencies, other business entities, and the like.Similarly, the present invention can be applied to service providersother than restaurants, including, florists, gift shops, travel agents,transportation providers, hotels, entertainment providers, office supplyproviders, grocery providers, and the like.

As will be evident from the following description, the present inventionis applicable in any situation where an organization purchases a service(which can be the provision of goods) from a service provider and theorganization then passes the cost of the service on to another party,such as a client.

Before referring to the Figures, a generalized example of a particularembodiment of the invention is provided to show how the invention works:

-   -   The employee orders food on the intermediary's easy to use web        site. The employee will provide an employee and employer        specific identification number. The system will automatically        retrieve all the related data according to the specific employee        and employer identification number entered (i.e., delivery        address).    -   The employee will enter the address and pick a time for the        delivery. The employee can get food delivered now or later, and        the system will only show restaurants that deliver at the time        specified by the employee and that deliver to the employee's        specified location.    -   The employee will pick a type of food (e.g., Italian, Chinese,        etc.): The system will show the employee the restaurants from        which he or she most recently ordered, and will also allow the        employee to choose a type of food. When a type of food is        selected, combined with the employee's selected delivery time        and specified address, the system will only show the employee        menus satisfying all of the criteria provided by the employee.        The employee prints out a receipt with all of the pertinent        information, including his or her order, a confirmation number,        contact information of a Help Desk, and the like.    -   The employee will pick a restaurant. The employee can browse        menus, see daily specials and coupons offered by each        restaurant, etc. When the employee picks a menu, he or she will        select menu items which will be remembered by the system. The        employee will be able to select from multiple menus if there is        more than one person ordering. Also, menus will be able to be        printed so that people can review the menu and make selections.    -   The employee will enter billing information (if applicable).        After selecting all of the food items, the employee will enter        the necessary client billing information. For employees who are        buying food which does not get billed to a client, the employees        will provide their credit card information. The system will        automatically remember the employee's credit card information        for future orders (of course, the employee can use a different        credit card).    -   The order is transmitted to the restaurant by e-mail or fax from        the intermediary.    -   The restaurant sends an e-mail or facsimile to, or calls, the        intermediary with the estimated time of the delivery, which the        intermediary then conveys to the employee.    -   The restaurant delivers the meal.    -   The employee can call or e-mail the Help Desk to resolve any        problems with the order.    -   The intermediary electronically sends to the employer all of the        information needed by the employer to bill its clients for meals        ordered by its employees. The information is collated as        requested by the employer (i.e., by date, client or employee),        and sent as frequently as the employer needs the information.        Thus, the employer can control the workflow to update its        clients' bills.    -   The intermediary sends the employer a bill for all of the meals        ordered by its employees. The employer will make a single        payment to the intermediary (as opposed to making hundreds of        reimbursements to its employees and paying numerous        restaurants). In the event that an employee ordered using the        intermediary's service and paid by credit card, the employer can        reimburse the employee using the information provided by the        intermediary rather than burdening the employee with the        administrative obligation of preparing and submitting a        reimbursement request which also must be processed and verified        by the employer's accounting department.    -   The intermediary pays the restaurants upon receipt of payment by        the employers, net of a percentage commission (therefore,        avoiding the burden of collecting the commission from the        restaurants). This eliminates the need of the restaurant to send        bills and collect for its house accounts, as well as eliminating        the fees associated with accepting credit card orders.    -   The intermediary will provide a cutting-edge, user friendly and        comprehensive web site.

In a particular embodiment as shown in FIG. 2, an intermediary 15provides e-commerce and accounting services to organizations 20 andservice providers 30 for offerings ordered by members 25 of theorganization 20 and delivered by the service provider 30. Theintermediary 15 provides, maintains, and monitors a computerizedsearchable database 40 of service providers 30 with associatedofferings. Members 25 of an organization 20 are allowed to individuallyaccess the database 40 via an interactive communication network 50(e.g., a global communication network such as the Internet and thelike). The database 40 is in communication with the interactivecommunication network via communications software 41 and server 42. Themembers 25 are able to select a service provider 30 from the database 40and to select offerings from the selected service provider 30. Themembers 25 communicate billing information (e.g., a client accountnumber, organization account number, and/or employee number) to theintermediary 15, which billing information is stored at the intermediary15. Although the members 25 are shown in FIG. 2 as being physicallylocated at the office of the organization 20, the members may alsoaccess the database 40 from other locations (e.g., off site meeting orat home).

The offerings selected by the members 25 are communicated from theintermediary 15 to the selected service provider 30 (e.g., via theinteractive communication network 50, via telephone or facsimile over apublic switched telephone network 52, or via any other communicationscheme now or hereafter available). The intermediary 15 then provides aconsolidated invoice to the organization 20 (e.g., via an organizationadministrator 22) for all offerings ordered by the members 25 during apredetermined time period, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.

The interactive communication network 50 may be a global communicationsnetwork such as the Internet, a localized or regional communicationsnetwork, or the like.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the intermediary 15 collectspayment from the organization 20 on the consolidated invoice. Theintermediary 15 then pays the different service providers 30 for allofferings ordered from the respective service providers by the members25 during the predetermined time period.

The members 25 may be provided with an additional option of paying forthe offering via one of a credit card or cash, in which instance theoffering is not billed to the organization on the consolidated invoice.As shown in FIG. 3, when the employee 25 uses a credit card to pay forthe meal, additional processing software 43 associated with theintermediary 15 is required in order to enable processing of the creditcard transaction and communication with a processing server 60 of thecredit card company (or a third party on behalf of the credit cardcompany).

In a further embodiment of the invention, the organization 20 is abusiness and the members 25 are employees of the business. The billinginformation in this embodiment may include at least one of theemployees' personal identification numbers, a specific identificationnumber for said business, the business' address, the business' telephonenumber, and client billing codes.

In another embodiment of the invention, the searchable database 40 isprovided in the form of a searchable web site. The web site may includeat least one web page associated with each restaurant in the database,which web page displays at least one of the restaurant menu, therestaurant food type, and the restaurant specialties of the day.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the intermediary 15 is capableof generating a report of all meals ordered by the employees 25 during aspecified time period containing at least one of order date, order time,employee name, employee's personal identification number, meal ordered,meal cost, client name, client code, and restaurant name. The report isforwarded from the intermediary 15 to the business 20.

The report can be sorted by at least one of order date, order time,employee name, employee's personal identification number, meal ordered,meal cost, client name, client code, and restaurant name. In addition,the report can be generated upon demand by the organization 20.

In another embodiment of the invention, the report is forwarded from theintermediary 15 to the organization 20 via one of facsimile, email, aglobal communication network, or said interactive communication network50. Of course, the report can also be forwarded via conventional mail orcourier.

In another embodiment of the invention, the intermediary 15 is capableof generating a receipt containing at least one of an order confirmationnumber, employee name, the employee's personal identification number,meal ordered, order date, order time, meal cost, client name, clientcode, restaurant name.

The receipt can be forwarded from the intermediary 15 to at least one ofthe employee 25, the restaurant 30, and the organization 20. The receiptmay be forwarded from the intermediary 15 via one of facsimile, email, aglobal communication network, or said interactive communication network50. The receipt can also be forwarded via conventional mail or courier.

Various advantageous features of the present invention are nowdescribed. For example, the intermediary 15 can forward to the employee25 an estimated time of meal delivery from the restaurant 30 to theorganization 20.

To assist an employee in choosing and obtaining food, the database 40 issearchable by at least one of restaurant name, food type, foodpreference, and restaurant location.

The invention is particularly suitable to situations where the business20 maintains house accounts with the restaurants 30. In such asituation, the consolidated invoice provides consolidation of amountsdue on the house accounts.

Obviously, the intermediary will want to be compensated for the servicesprovided. In a preferred embodiment, the intermediary 15 retains acommission from the payment received from the organization 20, whereinonly the balance of the payment from the organization 20 minus thecommission is forwarded by the intermediary 15 to the service provider30.

The intermediary 15 is also provided with the capability of providing ahistory of previous orders for each member 25. Moreover, theintermediary 15 can provide real-time assistance to the organization 20,the employee 25 or the service provider 30 to resolve problemsassociated with an order.

The intermediary 15 can provide a consolidated invoice to theorganization 20 via one of facsimile, email, a global communicationnetwork, or said interactive communication network 50. The invoice canalso be forwarded via conventional mail or courier. The consolidatedinvoice may contain only amounts due for offerings ordered from aparticular service provider 30, such that multiple consolidated reportsmay be provided, each relating to a separate service provider 30. In thealternative, the consolidated invoice may contain amounts due to eachservice provider 30 which has been ordered from during the predeterminedtime period.

Although the above examples relate to the provision of food deliveryservices, the service providers 30 may alternatively be providers offlowers, gifts, transportation, accommodations, travel arrangement,entertainment, office supplies, office copies, documents, or any othercommodity.

In a further embodiment, the members 25 are only allowed access to thesearchable database 40 for a pre-selected group of service providers 30.The pre-selected group of service providers 30 may be determined, forexample, based on geographic location of the organization 20. Thegeographic location can be determined by proximity to the organization20. The pre-selected group can be determined based on other factors aswell, such as price points.

Once an order is placed and accepted, the service provider 30 providesfor delivery 32 of the offerings to the members 25.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating one possible implementation of thepresent invention. The member/employee accesses the database (Step 110).The employee then selects a restaurant and orders a meal billable to theclient, in which case client account information is provided (Step 120).

In the alternative, the employee can order a meal which is not clientbillable, in which case the employee provides credit card information(e.g., personal credit card or corporate credit card) (Step 130). Ineither case, the intermediary transmits the order to the selectedrestaurant (Step 140) and the restaurant may provide an estimated timeof delivery to the intermediary (Step 150). The intermediary thenprovides the organization/employer with a single consolidated invoicefor all the restaurant orders which contains sufficient information toenable the organization to bill the organization's clients for allorders not prepaid by the employees (Step 160). The employer can thenbill the clients (Step 170). The employer pays the intermediary for allthe orders which were not prepaid by the employees (Step 180). Theintermediary then deducts its fee and pays the restaurants (Step 190).The employer may reimburse the employees for orders prepaid by theemployee (Step 200).

FIG. 5 is a detailed flowchart of an example of the ordering process ofpresent invention (Steps 110 through 140 of FIG. 4). The inputs andfunctions of each of the customer, the system, and the restaurant arebroken down in the Figure. Initially, the employee accesses the databaseand enters his or her identification information (Step 111). The systemthen automatically retrieves all the related data according to theemployee identification (e.g., organization name, delivery address, listof clients to select from, order history, etc.) (Step 112). Theretrieved information is displayed on the employee's screen forverification and possible editing. The employee can search the databasefor a restaurant according to parameters such as: name of restaurant,Chinese, kosher, vegetarian, health conscious, etc. (Step 113). Thesystem returns a list of restaurants based on the search criteria andwhich restaurants deliver to the employee's address (Step 114). Theemployee scrolls through the list of restaurants and selects the onefrom which he or she wishes to order (Step 115). The employee views themenu of the selected restaurant and selects the item he or she wishes toorder (Step 121). The employee is able to print this screen for his orher records (Step 122). The system automatically sends the order, suchas by fax, e-mail, or other communication to the restaurant with theorder information (Step 123). The restaurant receives and processes theorder and may send an e-mail, fax, or other communication to the systemof the estimated time of delivery (Step 124). The restaurant deliversthe meal (Step 125). The employee eats the meal (Step 126).

As discussed above, the invention may be presented as a web siteaccessible by the members of the organization. An example of aparticular web site implementation which may be provided by theintermediary is as follows:

Screen One

-   -   Web site logo and link to contact intermediary are provided.    -   Employee enters employer's specific identification number and an        employee specific identification number. [The system will        automatically know the employers' addresses. If the delivery        address is different, the employee will be able to insert a        different address.]    -   If the employee is billing this order to a client, then the        employee will enter the necessary client billing information. If        the employee is paying for this order with his or her own credit        card, he or she will enter all of the necessary credit card        information.    -   Allow employee to select a type of food (e.g., Chinese, Italian,        kosher, vegetarian, healthy, etc.) or enter the specific name of        a restaurant.    -   Provide pull-down menu to allow employee to select from the five        most recent restaurants he or she ordered from.    -   The system will automatically assume that the order is to be        delivered as soon as possible unless otherwise indicated.    -   On the bottom of the screen there may be one or two restaurants        that can advertise their specials (for an additional charge        payable to the intermediary).        Screen Two    -   Employee will see only those restaurants that fit the parameters        determined by the employee.    -   Next to the name of each restaurant, there will be a description        of the type of restaurant (e.g., Chinese, Italian, kosher,        etc.).

Employee will scroll through the available restaurants and select therestaurant from which he or she wishes to order.

Screen Three

-   -   Employee will view the menu of the selected restaurant and        select each item he or she wishes to order. The items on the        menu can be broken down into various categories, such as        appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts, beverages, specials, and        the like. The amount of the order will be automatically added up        on the right side of the screen while the employee is ordering.        The employer can supply the intermediary with a set percentage        amount for a tip that the intermediary will apply to all orders        by any employee, or, in the alternative the employee can type in        the tip.    -   The employee will be able to provide specific instructions for        the order (e.g., no MSG, spicy, medium rare).        Screen Four    -   This screen will give the employee a confirmation number, the        employer and employee specific identification number, the        client/matter number, the order, the phone number of        intermediary's Help Desk to call or e-mail with any problems        concerning the order and allow the employee to print out all of        this information.

Then employee will be given the opportunity to go back to Screen One andplace another order at another restaurant with the same or differentclient/matter number. The first order will be saved by the intermediary.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the implementationdescribed above is only one way in which the method and system of thepresent invention can be set up. All alternatives are intended to beincluded within the scope of the invention.

It should now be appreciated that the present invention provides animproved method and system whereby a third party intermediary can absorbcertain payment, collection and billing functions on behalf of anorganization and service providers which provide services to theorganization.

1. A method for providing electronic commerce and accounting services toorganizations and service providers for offerings ordered by members ofthe organizations and delivered by the service providers, comprising thesteps of: providing said members with online access to a searchabledatabase of said service providers with associated offerings via aninteractive communication network, said searchable database beingmaintained by an intermediary; enabling the members to electronicallyselect a service provider from the database; enabling the members toelectronically select offerings from the selected service provider viathe database; enabling the members to electronically communicate theselected offerings and billing information for payment of the selectedofferings to the intermediary; electronically storing the billinginformation at the intermediary; electronically communicating theofferings selected by the members from the intermediary to the selectedservice provider; and providing a consolidated invoice from theintermediary to an organization for a plurality of offerings ordered bya plurality of members of that organization during a predetermined timeperiod from a plurality of service providers.
 2. A method in accordancewith claim 1, comprising the further steps of: collecting payment by theintermediary from the organization on the consolidated invoice; payingof the service provider by the intermediary for all offerings orderedtherefrom by the members during the predetermined time period.
 3. Amethod in accordance with claim 1, wherein the members are provided withan additional option of paying for the offering via one of a credit cardor cash, in which instance the offering is not billed to theorganization on the consolidated invoice.
 4. A method in accordance withclaim 1, wherein: the organization is a business; the members areemployees of the business; and the billing information includes at leastone of the employees' personal identification numbers, a specificidentification number for said business, the business' address, thebusiness' telephone number, and client billing codes.
 5. A method inaccordance with claim 4, wherein the searchable database is provided inthe form of a searchable web site.
 6. A method in accordance with claim5, wherein the service providers are restaurants, further comprising thestep of: providing at least one web page associated with each restaurantin the database, which web page displays at least one of the restaurantmenu, the restaurant food type, and the restaurant specialties of theday.
 7. A method in accordance with claim 6, further comprising thesteps of: generating a report by the intermediary of all meals orderedby the employees during a specified time period containing at least oneof order date, order time, employee name, employee's personalidentification number, meal ordered, meal cost, client name, clientcode, and restaurant name; and forwarding the report from theintermediary to the business.
 8. A method in accordance with claim 7,wherein the report can be sorted by at least one of order date, ordertime, employee name, employee's personal identification number, mealordered, meal cost, client name, client code, and restaurant name.
 9. Amethod in accordance with claim 7, wherein the report can be generatedupon demand by the organization.
 10. A method in accordance with claim7, wherein the report is forwarded from the intermediary to theorganization via one of facsimile, email, a global communicationnetwork, or said interactive communication network.
 11. A method inaccordance with claim 6, further comprising the step of: generating areceipt by the intermediary containing at least one of an orderconfirmation number, employee name, the employee's personalidentification number, meal ordered, order date, order time, meal cost,client name, client code, restaurant name.
 12. A method in accordancewith claim 11, wherein the receipt is forwarded from the intermediary toat least one of the employee, the restaurant, and the organization. 13.A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the receipt is forwardedfrom the intermediary via one of facsimile, email, a globalcommunication network, or said interactive communication network.
 14. Amethod in accordance with claim 6, further comprising the steps of:forwarding from the intermediary to the employee an estimated time ofmeal delivery from the restaurant to the organization.
 15. A method inaccordance with claim 6, wherein the database is searchable by at leastone of restaurant name, food type, food preference, and restaurantlocation.
 16. A method in accordance with claim 6, wherein: the businessmaintains house accounts with the restaurants; and the consolidatedinvoice provides consolidation of amounts due on the house accounts. 17.A method in accordance with claim 2, further comprising the step of:retaining a commission by the intermediary from the payment receivedfrom the organization, wherein only the balance of the payment from theorganization minus the commission is forwarded by the intermediary tothe service provider.
 18. A method in accordance with claim 1, furthercomprising the step of: providing a history of previous orders by theintermediary for each member.
 19. A method in accordance with claim 1,further comprising the step of: providing real-time assistance by theintermediary to resolve problems associated with an order.
 20. A methodin accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of providing a consolidatedinvoice from the intermediary to the organization is accomplished viaone of facsimile, email, a global communication network, or saidinteractive communication network.
 21. A method for providing electroniccommerce and accounting services to organizations and service providersfor offerings ordered by members of the organizations and delivered bythe service providers, comprising the steps of: providing said memberswith online access to a searchable database of said service providerswith associated offerings via an interactive communication network, saidsearchable database being maintained by an intermediary; enabling themembers to electronically select a service provider from the database;enabling the members to electronically select offerings from theselected service provider via the database; enabling the members toelectronically communicate the selected offerings and billinginformation for payment of the selected offerings to the intermediary;electronically storing the billing information at the intermediary;electronically communicating the offerings selected by the members fromthe intermediary to the selected service provider; and providing aplurality of consolidated invoices from the intermediary to theorganization, each of the consolidated invoices contains amounts due fora plurality of offerings ordered by a plurality of members from aparticular service provider.
 22. A method in accordance with claim 1,wherein the consolidated invoice contains amounts due to each serviceprovider which has been ordered from during the predetermined timeperiod.
 23. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the serviceproviders are providers of one of flowers, gifts, transportation,accommodations, travel arrangement, entertainment, office supplies,office copies, documents, food, or beverages.
 24. A method in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the members are only allowed access to thesearchable database for a pre-selected group of service providers.
 25. Amethod in accordance with claim 24, wherein the pre-selected group ofservice providers is determined based on geographic location of theorganization.
 26. A method in accordance with claim 25, wherein thegeographic location is determined by proximity to the organization. 27.A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising the step ofproviding for delivery of the offerings from the service provider to themembers.